One could teach device makers to better name their widgets. If someone starts from this seat and searches for the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro gaming headset in the review, he will find not only some headset with almost the same name, but also an option with a similar name, but about 100 euros cheaper. This is of course due to the fact that the Blackshark V2 Pro is not an entirely new product, but rather an updated version of the existing headphones.
I’ve never tested the original BlackSharks myself, but based on the internet, they were gaming headphones with good sound quality, but they had minor build issues and a surprisingly poor microphone considering the price range.
According to Razer, these problems have now been fixed and several other new features have been added in the update, so by all logic, the end result should be an excellent gaming headset.
Stylish appearance, tough features
The BlackShark V2 Pro headphones immediately impressed me with their looks. Although this is clearly a headset for gamers, you wouldn’t believe the looks of it. The simple, elegant lines are more reminiscent of earmuffs than headphones. The headphones are available in two versions, one of which is completely black, the other completely white. In the black headphones I received for testing, the only splash of color is the green arm of the microphone button, and this solution is also functional: If green is showing, the microphone is on.
The earcups and headband have plenty of padding in the form of some kind of soft, but still firm foam, and on top of that, a very soft and pleasant-feeling fabric. The cups are firm on the head, but they don’t feel uncomfortably heavy or cumbersome, even during long gaming sessions. Despite the closed cups, air circulates so well that neither the skin nor the ears feel sweaty.
The cups are attached to the headband with the help of metal arms and they move smoothly and comfortably in their plastic sheaths. The headphones can be adjusted to the right height very easily, but they stay in place nicely. This was very welcome, for example, for the PlayStation 5’s surround sound, because while the cup has a lot of room for vertical adjustment, you can easily adjust the sound source to a location that suits your own ears. fit the size of
Although the cups are completely closed, their sound insulation is not excessive. High background noises are clearly suppressed even when there’s no sound coming through the headphones, but if you try to listen to an audiobook in a louder environment, background noise will kick in. On the other hand, when the headphones were in more active gaming use, the soundscape was dense enough that I wouldn’t have noticed the loud ringing of the doorbell if my kittens hadn’t been woken up by it. It also goes fine outdoors, as sound doesn’t leak out at all, based on the traditional “headphones around the thigh” test.
The headset microphone is completely removable. The arm is flexible but holds its shape so well that it still held its shape a few weeks later on a coffee table when I adjusted the microphone into a fairly S-bend for a work meeting. So you no longer have to worry about the microphone being as far (or too far, depending on head size) as the original Blacksharks microphone used to be. The only complaint in this area is that the headphones do not come with a case that can be used to protect the open 3.5mm connector when the microphone is not in use.
Apart from the microphone, the headphones only have one connection: the USB Type C connector, which is used to charge the handset. Predecessors apparently also had the option of connecting with a 3.5mm audio cable, but this is no longer possible. As a counterbalance to this, the battery life has increased significantly and Razer advertises that the BlackShark can last for around 70 hours on a single charge. With only 15 minutes of charging, you get up to six hours of play time. I believe these claims well, because I charged them once after receiving the headphones themselves, and since then I have actively played with them every day for more than two weeks, and the headphones have not yet No complaints about power shortage.
The feature list is completed with connectivity, which is therefore only successful wirelessly. Razer includes its own 2.4GHz HyperSpeed transmitter, but the headphones also support Bluetooth connections. It’s a shame that despite the separate transmitter, the Blacksharks can’t be connected to the Xbox Series X no matter what you do, so the transmitter is intended for the PlayStation 5 as well as PCs that have Bluetooth No transmitter.
I tried both connection methods myself and both worked well. When using Bluetooth, codecs supported by other devices can be encountered, as for example the sound on my Ubuntu laptop was clearly faster than on a PlayStation 5 via HyperSpeed. It’s worth making sure it’s possible to use better codecs or connect the transmitter to a laptop, because I can say I wouldn’t have paid more than 200 Euros for that audio experience.
Were these gaming headphones?
I’m not the world’s biggest hi-fi fan, but I am enough that I demand natural and high-quality sound from my headphones and other audio equipment. For example, I wouldn’t even take Beats headphones for free, and most headphones that are praised as gaming headphones also give me goosebumps because their developers focus on bass and low frequencies at the expense of everything else. Insist on. In my daily use are Beyerdynamic’s excellent DT-990 Pro X, whose natural and spacious sound attracted me first and foremost.
I was very skeptical about the BlackSharks at first, as I expected them to offer tremendous bass pounding and more dense mid and high frequencies. It’s also possible, if you prefer, as PC users can use Razer’s own software to adjust the sound with EQ. For the rest of us, there are three other quick-set frequency ranges for games, music, or movies.
As a new feature, Razer also hired a group of eSports pros to design frequency curves that are perfect for their games – or at least their ears. After a bit of experimentation, I myself found some sound spaces between the shortcuts that were very pleasing to my ear (“Music”, “Valorant” and “Apex Legends”, if anyone keeps records at home).
If I had to describe Blacksharkey’s sound in a nutshell, I would say that they sound balanced, but still punchy. I played several games with the headphones on (Horizon: Forbidden West, Like a Dragon: Ishin!, World of Warships, Pizza Tower, Returnal), watched movies and listened to music through streaming services and Plex via the Nvidia Shield TV. The headphones passed all the tests excellently. Their world of sound is pleasant, natural, and surprisingly spacious, thanks to Razer’s updated Triforce Titanium sound elements. There’s ample bass, but it doesn’t bury the other frequency ranges. Everything is heard clearly and cleanly. Easily the best gaming headset out there – at least to my ears.
What’s also really cool is that all of this was done without any mandatory software installation. It’s quite rare that the sound controls of gaming headphones are already adjusted so well at the factory that they don’t need to be adjusted with the manufacturers’ own, often difficult and voluminous software packages.
The microphone is also of a confusing quality. Now, I won’t be doing any professional studio recording with this, but if the aim is to chat with gaming friends or attend remote meetings, there’s really clear and clean sound, which still removes a great deal of background noise. Is.
will i buy
Everything has a price and in this case the price is 239 Euros. The recommended value is relatively high, and you really can’t get anywhere. For example, the excellent GSP 370 headphones from Sennheiser are 40 euros cheaper than their recommended price and also provide really high-quality and pleasant sound, albeit with a fixed microphone and, in my opinion, a clumsy look. So there are cheaper, but still very comparable options available.
On the other hand, it’s hard to argue that the price tag is in any way unnecessarily inflated, as the BlackShark are at least high-quality headphones in terms of all their features. They feel pleasant to use, their build feels sturdy and the materials are of high quality. Pleasantness of the sound is, of course, always a matter of very personal opinion, but I personally liked the BlackSharks’ sound so much that they ultimately convinced me to just ditch Beyerdynamic’s DT-990 Pro Xs and forget about the desktop PC side. Persuaded about connecting the 3.5mm cable to the controllers.
Personally, I’d pay 239 Euros for the experience, although probably with a grin.
Razer Blackshark V2 Pro 2023
Price Range: 239 Euro
Further information: Razor
V2.fi | mikka lehtonen
